The word family indicates a plurality of persons. There is another word, one of special significance, that indicates just one person: Mother. A mother is the quintessence of a family, for she is the quintessence of love, the quintessence of affection and, therefore, the quintessence of goodness and mercy. It is in … Read more
“I don’t like the motto of your society,” quipped Dona Cesarina (see footnote), an acquaintance I had not seen in many years, as I met her by chance near the Conde Prates Building. Dona Cesarina is still a young grandmother who is always on the leading edge of all modernity. However, despite … Read more
It is said that today’s world is profoundly against penance and mortification. This is quite true. However, the main reason why we have this aversion is not that we want to avoid the physical pain of penance (which does exist). Rather, we tend to be against penance because of the principle behind … Read more
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In an article commemorating the centennial of the birth of Bishop Vital Maria Gonçalves de Oliveira(1844-1878), commonly known as Dom Vital, Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira extols the virtues of this prelate who resisted the secular authorities of his time. * * * Generally speaking, Brazilians have a confused notion of who Bishop Vital … Read more
As Saint Paul was struck off his horse, he was shaken by the turn of events when Our Lord asked him the question “Why persecutest thou Me?” In other words, open your eyes! Examine your conscience! Realize the fact that you are doing something which, if you make an upright examination of … Read more
This testimony of Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira about the grace that he received of Our Lady of Good Counsel of Genazzano is taken from the July-August 1986 issue of the magazine Madre del Buon Consiglio, published by the Augustinian Friars of Genazzano (Italy) with the following introduction: “For many years … Read more
Today is the Feast of Saint Michael. The Catholic calendar reads: Saint Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host fought the rebel angels in the heavenly battle. He continues to lead the battle to free us from the devil. Our guardian angels depend on him. He is the custodian angel of the Church … Read more
In times past, people considered names to be symbolic of the person. This was so true that for a long time people even gave great importance to initials, a kind of symbol of the name, which in turn is a symbol of the person. Thus, a name was considered to be a … Read more
In ancient times, people referred to the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady as the feast of Our Lady of Glory. They understood that the Assumption of Our Lady was not merely the physical event of her leaving this earth after resurrecting by virtue of her Divine Son and being taken … Read more
The Spiritual Exercises by Saint Ignatius of Loyola are often presented as a magnificent sequence of logical arguments that can lead a person to amend his life, save his soul, choose his state in life or make important resolutions. While all these treasures are found in this work, we need to have … Read more